Shops, commercial establishments in Kerala will down their shutters from Tuesday to protest against the demonetisation scheme.

Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES), which is the largest trade organisation comprising over one million members, is planning to go on an indefinite strike starting from Tuesday. The samithi will protest against fall in their business, which was caused due to demonetising of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

In the interest of safeguarding the interest of its members, KVVES state president T Nasseruddin said that the central government's sudden decision to ban the two denomination notes has resulted in their businesses taking a hit.

"Adding to this, the officials are now harassing our members by conducting raids to see how much currencies are there. If things do not change, from Tuesday onwards we will down our shutters indefinitely, and only when things become normal we will open," Nasseruddin was quoted as saying by IANS.

The trade body, which was formed in 1980 to safeguard the interests of the traders, businessmen and industrialists, is a powerful body. "Since Tuesday night, our business has been hit hard and we are losing customers as we do not accept the withdrawn currencies. If we accept the currencies, then accounting becomes a problem. Now there is a huge scarcity of currencies that are legal tender, which the government should have ensured," a leading provision owner was quoted as saying IANS.

In a surprise announcement, the Prime Minister had announced on Tuesday night that Rs. 500 and 1000 notes will be discontinued from Wednesday midnight as part of the government's efforts to curb black money and keep a tab on corruption.

Following the announcement, chaos prevailed throughout the country. There were long queues at various banks and ATM across India in the last two days.